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Parents and teachers both want to give children the best education possible to prepare them for a promising and bright future. But achieving that goal requires more than just excellent classroom teaching and focused studying. Children also need to develop their inner confidence, courage, and personal strength to feel like they can achieve their full potential. Whether it’s sports, academics, arts, or transitioning to the adult world, the key to helping students realise and harness their potential is empowerment. Empowering children helps them believe that their strengths can flourish and that they can survive inevitable setbacks and failures.

What does ‘empowerment’ mean?

Simply put, empowerment means guiding your child in a manner that encourages their belief in their own abilities and potential for positive growth. During their school years and when they move into adult life, children will need to rely on their inner strength and sense of self-belief to meet and overcome difficulties. By understanding how you can empower your child, you’ll be building a strong foundation that will help them succeed as they tackle academic and personal challenges.

How can I empower my child?

By mirroring self-belief and inner confidence

You probably already know that children are masters at absorbing every little nuance in their environments. That’s why mirroring can be such a powerful empowerment tool. When we mirror for our children, we’re reflecting our own confidence in their abilities and potential back to them, which gives them the encouragement they need to develop and grow.

We might mirror self-belief by praising a child’s hard work and dedication to tackling a difficult academic subject. We could also use mirroring to encourage practice for any kind of skill or talent. For example, when we see a child interested in drawing, we may talk with them about how great it is to see their skills improve with every picture they create.

By modeling and reflecting our own belief in our children’s abilities, we encourage their own empowerment by supporting their growing self-confidence.

By offering support and opportunities for growth

No child can develop their own inner strength and self-confidence if they don’t have opportunities to develop these qualities. That means letting them encounter challenges, which can mean facing failure. Failing can feel uncomfortable, especially for children, but offering support can help your child realise that one failure isn’t a reason to doubt themselves. Instead, by giving support and encouragement, failures become opportunities for children to grow their strengths and feel even more empowered.